Blair rejects patient neglect claims

The hospital at the centre of the row

Tony Blair is refusing to accept claims of serious neglect made by the family of a 94-year-old woman at the centre of a row over the state of the NHS.

After a heated clash in the House of Commons, Downing Street went to unprecedented lengths to rebut the story of Rose Addis and two other patients whose relatives complained about their treatment at the same North London hospital.

If my poor mother had been a dog she would have been treated better

Rose's daughter

To reporters' astonishment, the prime minister's official spokesman gave intimate details of the patients' medical histories, including that of a 13-year-old boy, outlining treatments and conditions.

The spokesman admitted he did not have permission of the patients or their families to disclose the details, some of which were revealed, he said, in letters from the hospital to the newspaper.

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has also come under fire after it emerged he did not contact the hospital before making his allegations.

The hospital said it was "appalled" by Mr Duncan Smith's decision to raise the case in the Commons and is demanding an apology. It denies any wrongdoing.

'Caked in blood'

Earlier, Mr Duncan Smith told MPs his constituent, Mrs Addis, was left "caked in blood" for three days in Whittington Hospital's casualty department because there was not a bed for her.

Rose Addis: family claims there was no bed for her

Mrs Addis was admitted to the hospital after injuring her head in a fall at home.

Her grandson, Jason Gold, had complained about her treatment, saying she had been left in the same clothes for 48 hours, had not been washed, and was still wearing blood-soaked socks with congealed blood caked under her fingernails after being admitted to the Accident and Emergency unit.

During angry exchanges at Prime Minister's Question Time, Mr Duncan Smith said the neglect of Mrs Addis was typical of the health service under Labour.

But Mr Blair claimed the story, which first came to light in the London Evening Standard, was not true.

'Fiction'

Mr Blair said the hospital had "strongly disputed" the claims.

I have to say that this is a terribly exaggerated and ill-conceived attack on the health service

James Malone-Lee, medical director, Whittington Hospital

"It is wrong in those circumstances for him (Mr Duncan Smith) to try and use this case to run down the NHS," Mr Blair said.

Mr Duncan Smith stuck by the claims and demanded an apology from Mr Blair and Health Secretary Alan Milburn, who described the reports of what Mrs Addis had endured as "fiction".

'Dog would be treated better'

The Tory leader said there were "three generations of Labour voters" but the family now thought Mr Blair's government was the worst it had ever seen.

He quoted Mrs Addis's daughter who claimed that "if my poor mother had been a dog she would have been treated better".

A Conservative spokesman told BBC News Online that Mr Duncan Smith had decided to "trust his constituent's word" rather than contacting the hospital.

Asked if that was a sensible way to proceed, given the strength of the hospital's denials, the spokesman said: "I can understand that argument.

"But the prime minister's spokesperson, in the briefing afterwards, began discussing patient's medical records without their permission and that is possibly even more shocking."

'Wholly inaccurate'

The Whittington Hospital said the Evening Standard's story was "wholly inaccurate".

Medical director, James Malone-Lee, told BBC Radio 4's PM Mrs Addis' treatment had been entirely appropriate.

She had been "confused" and had appeared "caked in blood" because she had a head wound, he said.

"I have to say that this is a terribly exaggerated and ill-conceived attack on the health service," he told PM.

But shadow health secretary Liam Fox said the case was a "microcosm" of what was happening in the NHS under Labour.

In a statement, The Evening Standard said: "Our reporting of the Rose Addis case has been entirely accurate."